In this communication we report critical current measurements of melt processed DyBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-x samples determined by several measuring techniques. First the material was characterized by AC susceptibility and DC magnetization. The results are characteristic of good quality melt-processed (RE)BCO material with T c ≈ 89 K and J c (77 K, 1 T) ≈ 10 4 A/cm 2 . Next, pulsed currents were used in order to determine both I-V curves and transport critical currents. The origin of the discrepancy between transport and magnetic data has been discussed. The results point out significant local variations of the critical current density throughout the single domain.

This communication aims at reporting the superconducting properties of Bi-2223/Ag tapes determined by using various measuring techniques. First, the original samples have been characterized by electrical resistance, AC susceptibility, and DC magnetization. The transport (intergranular) critical current vs. magnetic field was also determined at T = 77 K using pulsed currents up to 40 A. Next, the same combination of experiments was performed on bent tapes in order to bring out relevant information concerning the strength of the intergranular coupling. The results show that intergranular and intragranular currents differ by at least one order of magnitude. Finally, additional magnetic measurements were carried out in order to determine the anisotropy ratio J c ab /J c c , which was found to lie around 30.